Neither Boudreau nor Getzlaf would confirm whether the injury is connected to the multiple stitches Getzlaf received after being struck in the face with a puck blasted by Dallas scoring leader Tyler Seguin in Game 1.

Getzlaf was ruled out of Game 4 Wednesday morning, and then boarded a flight back to Southern California for an afternoon medical appointment.

"Obviously [stinks]. Never think I've missed a playoff game in my career, tough thing to watch," Getzlaf said Thursday as the team gathered at Honda Center for non-skating conditioning and treatment. "It's questionable for [Friday], we're debating, going through different stuff, doing our process to get ready.

"There's obviously some concerns for the problems we're dealing with. … It's not my nature to step away from the game unless somebody forces me to."

Boudreau said after the Game 4 loss that the Ducks missed Getzlaf "everywhere," as a 2-0 lead escaped.

"The overall thing is that I play in most situations … I feel I can be a part and step up and help, but we have guys who've filled in, and we may need that again tomorrow, but hopefully I can play," Getzlaf said.

Meanwhile, in goal

After Dallas' fourth goal in Game 4, Boudreau replaced rookie goalie Frederik Andersen with the regular season's primary starter, Jonas Hiller. He made one save.

"I thought it was important he played, if he was going to go tomorrow, that he's seen some playoff ice," Boudreau said of Hiller.

Is that a hint the pending free agent who was in goal for all seven playoff games last year will start, despite his 6-9-3 skid to end the regular season?

"It's not really that tough for me," Boudreau said. "I go with my history, the places I've had success with this sort of thing. I'm not saying what the guideline is, then you'd know who the goalie is."

Asked if the Ducks' situation requires a veteran's knowledge and calm, Hiller said, "I don't know. It's not up to me. Sure, it's nice to have that experience, to know how things will go. You have to play at your best."

Quite a day

Boudreau's decisions to pull Teemu Selanne from Game 3 after Dallas' third goal, and then make the 43-year-old retiring veteran a healthy scratch in Game 4 didn't fly with Selanne's 18-year-old son, Eemil.

After hearing his dad was to be scratched in favor of 21-year-old Emerson Etem on Wednesday, the younger Selanne posted this on his Twitter account: "ROSTER MOVE: Bruce Boudreau has been reassigned to Norfolk Admirals (AHL)." -- @EemilSelanne.

"Just like a box of chocolates … you never know," Teemu Selanne said Thursday of Wednesday's events. "When I heard, I said, 'Just take it out.' I thought it was funny. I don't tweet, not into Facebook. He sticks up for his dad, that's what families do."

Selanne said he had a feeling he was in danger of being scratched because he was on the ice for the third goal in Game 3.

"It's over, I don't even want to talk about the whole thing," Selanne said. "I told Bruce it's a new day, there's no hard feelings, we go from there. It's playoff time. I don't want to think about negative energy."

Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau’s decisions to pull Teemu Selanne from Game 3 after Dallas’ third goal, then make the 43-year-old retiring veteran a healthy scratch in Game 4 didn’t fly with Selanne’s 18-year-old son, Eemil.

DALLAS — Injured Ducks defenseman Stephane Robidas was moved to tears in discussing the season-ending broken leg he suffered in a Western Conference first-round playoff series that is now tied 2-2 with Robidas’ former team, the Dallas Stars.